How are pediatric heart diseases treated?
The treatment and outlook for each child depends on the disease and its severity. In some cases, no treatment is necessary and life expectancy is normal. Many forms of congenital heart defects require some type of treatment at some point in life. The treatment needed might be surgery or treatment using a catheter, a tube passed into an artery and up to the heart. In most cases, treatment for congenital heart disease results in normal or near normal heart function. In rare cases, the cardiac defect is so severe that normal heart function cannot be established, but surgery is performed to reduce symptoms, improve survival, and allow a normal or near normal quality of life for the child. Surgery for most congenital heart defects currently carries a low risk of death or serious complications (less than 2 percent), and requires a short hospitalization with a rapid return to normal activities. Although surgery seldom makes the heart completely “normal,” most children are able to pursue norma
